Even if you didn’t have the honour of knowing Rodger McDonald, you probably know his story.
It resonated with me from the moment I received an e-mail from Ryan McDonald, informing me that his father had passed away at age 84.
Like so many of us, Ryan grew up going to Saskatchewan Roughriders games with family members. His parents (Rodger and Jackie) were regulars at dear old Taylor Field, which was also frequented by their three children (Ryan, Scott and Joanne).
“We made life-long memories at Rider games,” wrote Ryan, who thoughtfully shared some of those recollections with me at a south Regina coffee emporium on Friday afternoon.
Until then, I had never met Ryan, yet he felt like a long-time friend. In many ways, we had the same childhood. We were at hundreds of the same games.
Mom was my first connection to the Green and White. Further back than I can remember, she took me to Roughriders games. So it really hit home when Ryan told me about his dad, who first purchased season tickets in 1970.
That explains the No. 70 on his Roughriders jersey, presented to him by the team because he was a proud member of the MVP plan.
As time marched on, one routine was carved in stone. Ryan was in his early teens when attending Roughriders games alongside his father became a given. Before then, Ryan conventionally sat behind the south end zone, with other young fans. Then he “graduated” to Section 103.
Section 103 opened in 1979 — Year 1 of an expanded Taylor Field. Rodger, as it turned out, was the only person to own tickets for Section 103, Row 10, Seats 31 and 32. That location was not claimed by anyone else through Oct. 29, 2016, when the Roughriders played their final game at historic Mosaic Stadium.
“We have had the same seats in Section 512 since the new stadium opened,” Ryan noted.
The Roughriders’ first regular-season game at the current confines was noteworthy for a reason other than its historical significance. Rodger won a free pizza slice on July 1, 2017, when Saskatchewan played host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Since then, the family’s account has expanded. Football has also become a bonding experience for Ryan and his youngest son. In recent years, Section 512 included three generations of McDonalds (Rodger, Ryan and Kaelen) and four family members overall (including Ryan’s wife, Jennifer).
“We had a ritual,” Ryan said. “We’d leave our place, pick up my dad at his house on Montague Street, and head to the stadium.
“I’m so happy this culminated in seeing the 2025 West Final in person.”
Eight days later, Saskatchewan defeated the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium to win the 112th Grey Cup Game. One day before the fifth Grey Cup victory in franchise history, Ryan and Kaelen had driven to Winnipeg.
Amid the celebration of a championship-game victory, Ryan phoned his father from the stadium.
There were reminders of Nov. 24, 2013, when Ryan and Rodger watched from Section 103 as the Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23.
The Rodger Rules were applied, as usual, on that momentous day in Saskatchewan sporting history.
“I learned two important ‘rules’ for games,” Ryan said while eulogizing his father at Lakeview United Church on Feb. 26.
“(The first rule was) never, ever leave early, no matter the score. The Riders just might come back. The second is to never linger after the game. You have to get to the car to try and beat the rush and hear the post-game show.
“Arguably the greatest game in Riders history was the 2013 Grey Cup held here in Regina. At the end of the game, the Riders win the Grey Cup at home, the trophy is presented, the fans in the stadium are cheering and rejoicing. I look over and Dad is already down the stairs, seat cushion in hand, headed to the car.
“I’m glad the last game Dad saw was the Riders winning the Grey Cup last year. Overall, loyalty mattered to him, whether it was to a football team, his church, his work or his family.”
A civil engineer, Rodger toured the province in the line of duty. Name a community, virtually anywhere, and he probably knew somebody.
They would talk about Rodger’s specialty — water treatment — and, inevitably, about football as well.
Roughriders fandom provides a common bond. Complete strangers can become fast friends while discussing football.
It was like that when Rodger was on the road.
And it was like that on Friday afternoon, when Ryan joined me over a latte and a frappe and was nice enough to tell me all about a wonderful fan who was, above all, a wonderful man.
E-LETCHER-FYING!
A Friday interview with newly signed Roughriders receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. — read all about him on Monday! — left this seasoned scribe salivating at the possibilities.
Could he become the first Roughrider in more than a decade to score on a reception and a return in the same game?
This feat, aided by fleet feet, was last accomplished by a Saskatchewan player when Weston Dressler scored on a 60-yard reception and an 80-yard punt return against the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS on Sept. 21, 2014.
Curtis Mayfield leads the Riders’ double-duty list with two games of multi-faceted scoring.
He scored on two punt returns (69 and 68 yards) and one reception (23) during the third quarter of the 1999 Labour Day Classic versus Winnipeg.
Mayfield had earlier reached the end zone on a punt return (95 yards) and a reception (37) in the 1997 Western Final at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.
Also in the playoffs, Curt Schave scored on a reception (80 yards) and a kickoff return (60) against the host Calgary Bronks on Nov. 11, 1932. A 30-2 victory propelled the Roughriders into the 20th Grey Cup Game.
Thirty-nine years elapsed before Bobby Thompson erupted for three TDs against the visiting B.C. Lions on Oct. 24, 1971. Thompson scored on a 115-yard kickoff return — still the longest in franchise history — and added receiving TDs of 97 and 14 yards. (All three majors were on the books barely 17 minutes into the game!)
B.C. was also the visiting team on Oct. 30, 1977, when Joey Walters scored on a 35-yard pass and a 50-yard punt return.
Fast fact: Jim Young caught a TD pass for the Lions in both games.
FROM THE ICE AGE …
There is a precedent for goal posts being situated at the back of the end zone for a CFL game.
We take you back to Nov. 3, 1991, when Edmonton visited Winnipeg on the final weekend of regular-season play.
A blizzard that enveloped the Manitoba capital one day before kickoff turned the field into a sheet of ice. After the storm blew through, stadium workers were able to clear most of the ice — save for some patches on the sideline, along with a rink that occupied 20 yards of supposed playing surface in the south end zone.
Hence a pre-game discussion that included Edmonton head coach Ron Lancaster, Blue Bombers general manager Cal Murphy and CFL supervisor of officials Neil Payne.
Player safety being paramount, the decision was made to shorten the field from 110 yards to 90 and reduce the width by 10 feet. End zones were 10 yards deep. Therefore, the uprights were at the end line.
Edmonton prevailed 28-18 before 24,240 shivering spectators.
Chalk up another win for The Little General.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: James Letcher Jr., Bernie Bolen, Marv Kereluke, Julie Kereluke, Angela Tillier, Will Egan, Joshua Bell, Jessica Gelowsky, Kelsey Rosencranz, Ryan McDonald, Jennifer McDonald, Kaelen McDonald, Kieran McDonald, Jackie McDonald, Weston Dressler, Dylan Earis, Edie Schroeder and Jim Young.